Wiebe, Viola Bergthold (1903-1996)

Born 17 August 1903 at Buhler, Kansas to Daniel F. and Katharina Mandtler Bergthold, Viola Bergthold Wiebe was a missionary in India for 43 years. A graduate of Hebron Girls School at Ootacamund in India, where her parents were Mennonite Brethren missionaries, and of Tabor College in Kansas (BA), she married John A. Wiebe on 1 June 1926, and began ministry in India in 1927, serving with her husband in Nagarkurnool, Wanaparty, Kalvakurthy, and Devarakonda during the first years. Her longest periods of service were at Mahabubnagar (18 years) and Ramapatnam Baptist Seminary (10 years), continuing some seven years after her husband's death. With her roots in India, Viola Wiebe was especially sensitized to identify with the Indian people and was instrumental in organizing women's and girls’ associations. She was the mother of seven children, Esther, John (married Carol Hiebert), Ruth (married Herb Friesen), Irene (married Don Janzen), David (married Lorma Kroeker), Paul (married Donna Kliewer), and Marilyn (married Cole Dodge). Viola Wiebe traveled and ministered widely during her retirement years, visiting her children who frequently were to be found active in ministries in Africa and Asia. Viola Wiebe died 10 September 1996 in Hillsboro, KS.